1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a universal connector and, more particularly, to an intelligent universal connector compatible to IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) parallel ATA""s 40-pin signal connector and serial AT attachment 7-pin signal connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
An IDE interface is a PC (personal computer)-to-storage medium (hard diskdrive or CD-ROM player) connection interface made in the form of a 40-pin socket or plug. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the 40 pins of an IDE interface are arranged in two lines, each having 20 pins. Therefore, an IDE interface is also called xe2x80x9cparallel ATA specificationxe2x80x9d.
Following fast development of new technology and strong demand for high signal transmission speed and high stability in signal transmission, serial ATA (SATA) standard has been established to fit IDE interface. This SATA standard, as shown in FIG. 2, is a 7-pin signal standard defined as follows: the first, fourth and seventh pins are grounding (GND), the second and third pins are HTX_P and HTX_M input/output signal; the fifth and sixth pins are HRX_P and HRX_M input/output signal. Because of the advantages of serial type signal transmission of fast transmission speed of low number of pins, SATA connectors will soon take over 40-pin connectors.
Currently, parallel ATA and serial ATA standards coexist in the market. The coexistence of these two standards in the market brings a great impact on computer peripheral apparatus. For example, a mobile computer peripheral rack has an IDE interface compatible 50-pin connector located on the outer rack and an IDE interface compatible 50-pin connector located on the inner box. When the two IDE interface compatible 50-pin connectors electrically connected, signal I/O is provided between the external computer and the internal storage medium (hard diskdrive). As illustrated in FIG. 3, the 50 pins of an IDE interface compatible 50-pin connector are defined as follows: the first and the 26th pins are +12V power source; the second, third, 27th and 28th pins are grounding (GND); the fourth and 29th pins are +5power source; the fifth and 30th pins are non; the pins numbered from 6xcx9c25 and the pins numbered from 31xcx9c50 are parallel 40-pin signal. The signals of the second, 19th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 30th and 40th pins shown in FIG. 1 correspond to the grounding terminals of the 31st, 15th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 45th, and 50th pins shown in FIG. 3. If the storage medium installed in the inner box is a hard diskdrive fitting parallel ATA standard, it is not compatible to the serial ATA connector on the outer rack. Connecting these two non-compatible connectors together may cause the computer to down, or bring a severe damage to the motherboard.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide an intelligent universal connector, which is compatible to IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) parallel ATA""s 40-pin signal connector and serial AT attachment 7-pin signal connector. According to the present invention, the intelligent universal connector comprises 50 pins arranged into a left row of pins and a right row of pins parallel to the left row of pins. The pins of the right row of pins are numbered from 1st through 25th in direction from the top side toward the bottom side. The pins of the left row of pins are numbered from 26th through 50th in direction from the top side toward the bottom side. The 1st and 26th pins are +12V power source. The 4th and the 29th pins are +5V power source. The 2nd, 3rd, 27th and 28th pins are grounding. The 5th and 30th pins are non. The pins of 6th through 25th and the pins of 31st through 50th correspond to parallel ATA standard. The 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 45th pins are the two I/O signal terminals (HTX_P, HTX_M and HRX_P, HRX_M). The 28th, 3rd and 2nd pins are connectable to the 1st, 4th and 7th pins of a 7-pin serial ATA connector. The 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 45th pins are connectable to the two I/O signals of a 7-pin serial ATA connector. The 41St, 42nd, 43rd and 45th pins correspond to grounding terminals of a parallel ATA connector.